As ducky pointed out - we traded 3 recent high first round picks (plus extras) for middling immediate help. This amounts to a desperate Hail Mary throw to reach the playoffs, a goal that is now out of reach. With this plan now in ruins, what is the next brilliant move by the Yotes management?

I think the big takeaway from this trade and the Domi trade is that Chayka is too impatient. If Domi had asked out, ok, but you don’t have to acquiesce. He doesn’t have all the leverage there. Look at Winnipeg with Trouba. Team does well and he rescinds his request.

Same with Strome, but unwillingly to put him with talent. He’s in the mold of a playmaker not a 4th liner. I don’t know if that’s Chayka siding with Tocchet because he hired Tocchet and didn’t want Strome in the first place, but it reeks of impatience on a team that isn’t contending and can afford to use the season as a development one. Schmaltz is good, but couldn’t we have gotten him for a lower price instead of our top prospect with no NHL experience?

I like all his other moves, but these ones had a lot higher risk and them not working out is way more painful.

How has Schmaltz played other than the points? Compete level? Play away from the puck? Last year he was much better in all these areas and this year we were all disappointed by his lack of compete and being out of position a lot

How has Schmaltz played other than the points? Compete level? Play away from the puck? Last year he was much better in all these areas and this year we were all disappointed by his lack of compete and being out of position a lot

Click to expand...

At times very well. At other times he’s blown coverage badly and it resulted in a goal against. His level of engagement varies but in the offensive zone I’ve been impressed by his vision and chemistry with Keller.

I'd say against NYI the line with Keller and Schmaltz on it was pretty bad overall. They didn't threaten very much minus a few shifts and spent a lot of time in the D zone. They need to be split up, imo. Losing 5 out of 6 (lucky to have the 1 win there) means this team isn't playing well enough.

Also, as stated above... they wanted this trade because Schmaltz is supposed to be the better piece right now. They were done with "hoping". Well, the results for the team haven't really been great up to this point with more losses than wins, imo.

I'd say against NYI the line with Keller and Schmaltz on it was pretty bad overall. They didn't threaten very much minus a few shifts and spent a lot of time in the D zone. They need to be split up, imo. Losing 5 out of 6 (lucky to have the 1 win there) means this team isn't playing well enough.

Also, as stated above... they wanted this trade because Schmaltz is supposed to be the better piece right now. They were done with "hoping". Well, the results for the team haven't really been great up to this point with more losses than wins, imo.

Click to expand...

I think Galchenyuk needs to be back on that line. We'll see if it changes as (if) we get players healthy.

I'd say against NYI the line with Keller and Schmaltz on it was pretty bad overall. They didn't threaten very much minus a few shifts and spent a lot of time in the D zone. They need to be split up, imo. Losing 5 out of 6 (lucky to have the 1 win there) means this team isn't playing well enough.

Also, as stated above... they wanted this trade because Schmaltz is supposed to be the better piece right now. They were done with "hoping". Well, the results for the team haven't really been great up to this point with more losses than wins, imo.

I like Schmaltz for what he is. But what that is is a one-dimensional smallish winger with engagement issues. He could definitely still improve, and he looks/is dynamic.
We might "win" this trade.

My biggest beef is we selected (again) an extremely talented kid and then (again) traded him without giving him an opportunity to be successful here. And we (again) depressed his value as a trade chip by rubbing his nose in ****, playing him out of position, on a fourth line, or continually scratching him.
And then we (again) insulted the guy after we sent him off with that "hope" and "patience" bullsnip as though we gave him every opportunity in the world.

We obviously have no plan and a very narrow view of what we want in even our offensive players. We obviously have no hope/patience to actually develop any kind of talent. The player is either NHL ready or doomed here. We might as well trade guys after one disappointing camp because noone works their way out of the dog house here.

It's been fun watching yet another 3rd overall that couldn't crack our absolute crap and thin roster go on to demonstrate elsewhere that he is obviously already a 2nd line center. This one a couple years younger and still on his ELC.

Also goes back to the "couple other guys" unhappy in the desert where offensive talent is destroyed.

There are other crappy teams that don't have a trail of players demanding out. Same with small markets.

But hey, at least we didn't accommodate or have to put up with these "entitled" prospects. And thank goodness we haven't had to watch young players make mistakes because we're too busy racking up all those wins with our reliable veteran star talent that doesn't make mistakes.

We have our recipe for eternal on-ice misery, and we're never going to change the recipe.

I like Schmaltz for what he is. But what that is is a one-dimensional smallish winger with engagement issues. He could definitely still improve, and he looks/is dynamic.
We might "win" this trade.

My biggest beef is we selected (again) an extremely talented kid and then (again) traded him without giving him an opportunity to be successful here. And we (again) depressed his value as a trade chip by rubbing his nose in ****, playing him out of position, on a fourth line, or continually scratching him.
And then we (again) insulted the guy after we sent him off with that "hope" and "patience" bullsnip as though we gave him every opportunity in the world.

We obviously have no plan and a very narrow view of what we want in even our offensive players. We obviously have no hope/patience to actually develop any kind of talent. The player is either NHL ready or doomed here. We might as well trade guys after one disappointing camp because noone works their way out of the dog house here.

It's been fun watching yet another 3rd overall that couldn't crack our absolute crap and thin roster go on to demonstrate elsewhere that he is obviously already a 2nd line center. This one a couple years younger and still on his ELC.

Also goes back to the "couple other guys" unhappy in the desert where offensive talent is destroyed.

There are other crappy teams that don't have a trail of players demanding out. Same with small markets.

But hey, at least we didn't accommodate or have to put up with these "entitled" prospects. And thank goodness we haven't had to watch young players make mistakes because we're too busy racking up all those wins with our reliable veteran star talent that doesn't make mistakes.

We have our recipe for eternal on-ice misery, and we're never going to change the recipe.

Click to expand...

Great post. We've needed one or two top six centers almost continuously since JR. Three players we drafted in the last decade are playing as top six centers, all with other teams. That's going to continue to haunt us. Now you have two wingers who shouldn't be centers. But like you said, at least we aren't having to put up with them. Yeah right and the only top six center we signed as a FA, who the HC loved was ACTUALLY a bad citizen and we're still freaking paying him.

I think when you have no money it is harder to work around mistakes. I remember when they bought out Ribero - now on the Leafs or the Rangers or even Kings you could have shipped his ass back to the echl and you lose a couple million dollars a year, it doesn't hit the team budget or cap. We do not have that option because every dollar counts, even the retirees dollars that are fictitious. Wen we make a mistake we can either play it or trade it at a loss. that has what's been happening. Strome was a mistake. We took him too early and passed on better players. We rolled the dice and lost. Most of the teams that draft well have $$$$. What we do is keep going back to the fridge hoping the refrigerator fairy will magically allow us to rearrange what we have and have it be better. It doesn't work like that in hockey. maybe we destroyed Strome, or maybe it was just a bad pick. Same with Perlinni. It doesn't matter it is what it is we trade potential for better now. It doesn't normally work.

My absolute favourite part of this is hearing Chayka talk about how good centers don't grow on trees, aren't generally available, have to be drafted, "premium position" , yada yada, and we have now given up on (and took completely unprofessional shots at while doing so) a 21 year old 6'2" kid who looks like a top six center with another team who we decided wouldn't work here (who we summarily scratched and didn't even try to use properly because our evaluation sucks) and shipped out a heart and soul guy we ground down who happens to be having a PPG year lining up at center.
We've traded two "premium position", actually NHL-ready, top-six guys, 23 and 21yoa, who we drafted in less than six months. And I don't think a soul would say anyone paid us a premium to get them.

I agree but was that because of how bad the team sucked / line mates he was with or was it him? His game sparked when they put him with Strome. I know he played wing on a line with Keller for a while but those two never looked good together like he did with Duclair. I'd really like to know if this is another example of the team misevaluating the player and not putting him in a position to succeed or Domi was just either checked out or really had the worst season of his short career.

I agree but was that because of how bad the team sucked / line mates he was with or was it him? His game sparked when they put him with Strome. I know he played wing on a line with Keller for a while but those two never looked good together like he did with Duclair. I'd really like to know if this is another example of the team misevaluating the player and not putting him in a position to succeed or Domi was just either checked out or really had the worst season of his short career.

Click to expand...

Domi was Schmaltz bad at center. They kept on feeding him minutes as a C and it never worked. At least they gave him minutes.

I like Schmaltz for what he is. But what that is is a one-dimensional smallish winger with engagement issues. He could definitely still improve, and he looks/is dynamic.
We might "win" this trade.

My biggest beef is we selected (again) an extremely talented kid and then (again) traded him without giving him an opportunity to be successful here. And we (again) depressed his value as a trade chip by rubbing his nose in ****, playing him out of position, on a fourth line, or continually scratching him.
And then we (again) insulted the guy after we sent him off with that "hope" and "patience" bullsnip as though we gave him every opportunity in the world.

We obviously have no plan and a very narrow view of what we want in even our offensive players. We obviously have no hope/patience to actually develop any kind of talent. The player is either NHL ready or doomed here. We might as well trade guys after one disappointing camp because noone works their way out of the dog house here.

It's been fun watching yet another 3rd overall that couldn't crack our absolute crap and thin roster go on to demonstrate elsewhere that he is obviously already a 2nd line center. This one a couple years younger and still on his ELC.

Also goes back to the "couple other guys" unhappy in the desert where offensive talent is destroyed.

There are other crappy teams that don't have a trail of players demanding out. Same with small markets.

But hey, at least we didn't accommodate or have to put up with these "entitled" prospects. And thank goodness we haven't had to watch young players make mistakes because we're too busy racking up all those wins with our reliable veteran star talent that doesn't make mistakes.

We have our recipe for eternal on-ice misery, and we're never going to change the recipe.

I posted this in another section, but it is worth a read. Unfortunately, everyone wants to make things black and white and promote the idea that the coaches or management are the problem and the player isn't. This is coming from a #1 overall pick. Maybe the trade is a "necessary evil" because for whatever reason, things weren't going to work out and that falls on both sides of the coin - player and coach/management.

I truly believe that things like this are more prevalent than people think, but it stays internal or is communicated in such a way, like Chayka did, to state that there was hope he would turn into the player that we and others expected, but we had crossed the threshold of relying on hope and it came time for action. I think there is an amount of fault to the coaches and an amount of fault to Strome in the ordeal, but not everything can only be that we outright failed the player. After reading the article, would you assume that the coaches failed Hall, or that Hall failed the coaches?

The author's takes are spot on and what some of us have been trying to say all along.

Schmaltz has 10 points and Strome and Perlini have combined for 8 points. They’re all within a year or so in age. This is fine. Schmaltz has looked good.

Go complain about Domi for Galchenyuk. That’s the trade that should get our GM fired.

It’s right to be mad. You’re all mad about the wrong thing.

Click to expand...

I'm not mad about either trade. Chucky has been the better player in the past, and I believe without the injuries he had his production would have been much better. Montreal is hitting on all 8 cylinders right now and are playing over their head. I don't think any so called experts had Montreal in the playoffs this year. You also can't judge a trade after 35 games.

Schmaltz has 10 points and Strome and Perlini have combined for 8 points. They’re all within a year or so in age. This is fine. Schmaltz has looked good.

Go complain about Domi for Galchenyuk. That’s the trade that should get our GM fired.

It’s right to be mad. You’re all mad about the wrong thing.

Click to expand...

I'm mad about both because I like both players and there's a pattern with this team ruining or giving up on it's talented youth. I definitely liked Domi more wanting him to be the captain and all but they have to fix player development. It's completely broke.